Advertisement
Published: April 10th 2009
Edit Blog Post
The Third World Experience: Knowing what it means to not have to wait in line.
“We from the West,” who leave our lives of traffic lit corners and thirty page employee handbooks to explore what President Harry Truman first denoted as “the developing world,” often get confused by the strange disorder we find ourselves in when we step into this strange new world. As we enter into these places of chaos (as defined by our living standards at home) it becomes difficult to grasp what we as individuals can actually control. Rather than to worry ourselves too much over the problems, we begin to indulge ourselves in our new surroundings through the people, opportunities, and services that surround us. Soon enough (and probably to our own relief) we find the disorder of the place to dissolve itself in the new tastes, sights, sounds, and hospitality. In our attempt to keep an open mind, many things we would normally be bothered by at home get pushed to the wayside. We soon find out, it is this very attitude that will carry us through to understanding what it means to live in the “developing world.”
Step One: Legitimizing the Chaos
Going from
a place like the US to colorful lands where things like handmade embroidery, salsa dancing, and candle festivals, still flourish, it’s hard to look comparatively at our own culture and say that it is equally rich in creativity, passion and tradition. However perplexing a comparison as this may be, we attempt to legitimize these thoughts by playing the blame game. Loss of culture…it must be the media and corporate America’s fault! Right? After all they do seem to control pretty much everything. Right? “Well, I’m sick of living in a place where everything from the news I read to the clothes I wear are determined for me! It’s just not right man.” “And besides, what’s with all that excessive packaging they’re using all of the time?! I mean, if we’re gonna start taking better care of the earth, we gotta stop this stuff from happening, man!” In such a state no wonder it’s easy to romanticize the third world chaos we find ourselves in. Slowly we begin to view the lack of law and order as a necessary means to the rich culture that tantalizes our hearts and minds. Screw the companies! Abolish the control!
Step Two: Sick and Tired
Once we’ve learned to embrace the uncontrollable in ways we could have never imagined, time sets in, and with it, renewed intolerance. If we stay long enough, we begin to see that many novelties of the informal world are wearing off. No longer is it amusing that we have to settle for a pack of gum instead of our due change, or figure out another place to sit on a day-long bus ride because our seat was double booked. We begin to realize that however exciting it is to live in a place where rules mean far less, and culture s seems far more abundant, the chaos continues to drain on us.
Step Three: Appreciation
People who’ve live their whole lives in these places know the frustrations better than we, and have little to do about it but hope that thing pan out better than they did the day before. Maybe today the wait won’t be as long, and the corner store will be able to give them proper change this time. But who are we kidding, odds are they will continue to face the same challenges and shrug it off like they do every day. They continue shrugging and,
when we visit, we continue with them all the while knowing what it means to not have to wait in line.
Where I’m going with this I don’t know, I guess I was just inspired to write one day when I was walking back to the office through Bedla Gav and got cut off by a wild pig that was trying to sneak past me as I adjusted my path to oncoming traffic. It was normal until I realized it was not normal.
I want to say that I hope each and every one of you is enjoying your life, right now, wherever you may be. And if a wild pigs decide to cut you off, so be it, keep walking like it’s supposed to happen. Next time you’ll be ready.
If anyone longs for a place where chaos reigns, where there is no rain, where dogs howl at night, where you can ride rickshaws like buses, where mountaintop temples cover the landscape, where mustard seed is ground into oil, where dustbowls cling to every corner, where you can find people doing real hard work, come to Bedla Gav. You shall not be disappointed and I will even tell
you how to get there.
Peace be to all of you on this Good Friday.
always
Advertisement
Tot: 0.06s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0377s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb